C’ville condo ties into town sewer line

Everybody talks about wastewater on Cape Cod, but the Center Village Condo Association in Centerville did something about it.

Edward F. Maroney

EDWARD F. MARONEY PHOTO

NEW SUBWAY AT ROUTE 132 – The Center Village Condo Association tie-in to the town’s sewer system required going under Route 132 rather than digging up the road.

Considered less expensive than alternative systems

Everybody talks about wastewater on Cape Cod, but the Center Village Condo Association in Centerville did something about it.

Located between Old Strawberry Hill Road and Route 132, the 60-unit complex is up the hill from Shallow Pond. With its aging Title 5 septic system reaching obsolescence, the trustees were faced with putting in an alternative wastewater system to improve nitrogen removal.

“The alternative systems’ nitrogen removal is not that good, and they’re very expensive to maintain,” said Bill Curtis. He is owner and president of Huntingest Co, which manages Center Village and other condos.

In an interview, Curtis credited Bill Rabe, a Center Village resident, for starting a two-years-plus campaign to let the association tap into the town sewer line at Bearse’s Way and Route 132.

“He acted as project manager and did most of the legwork through the town for us, and he should get the credit,” said Curtis. “He wasn’t really paid.”

These have not been good days for supporters of sewering plans on Cape Cod. From Yarmouth to Orleans and elsewhere, voters have rejected such proposals even after years of planning.

The advantage of an entity like Center Village, Curtis said, is that the trustees can act on a major issue like this on their own.

“Nobody likes to spend the money,” he said. “On the other hand, who wants s--- going into our water where all the little fishies grow?”

He said the final bids for the Center Village project were around $800,000, breaking down to about $15,000 per unit. “That is less expensive than installing an alternative system, and should be forever because we’re in the town sewer,” Curtis said. “Nobody likes it when they have to spend money, but they also understand, gee whiz, what can we do? No one’s going out there with a bucket and carrying it somewhere else.”

Curtis said Rabe contacted condo associations in the area to join the cause, but found no interest. Later, the option of hooking in the town’s marine environmental affairs building and police station on Phinney’s Lane made the project more attractive to the town.

“They were happy,” Curtis said, “and of course it helped move some of the people on the boards to move more quickly. We were offering them something they could get for nothing.”

When work is completed, the sewer connection will be turned over to the town. “We don’t want to continue maintenance, and the town doesn’t want us to do that,” said Curtis.

“They’re tying into our force main in the area of Bearse’s Way and Route 132,” said DPW Director Dan Santos, who started his new job after the work was under way. “We’ve worked with them to review the design and make sure what they’re proposing to install is consistent with our standards. Eventually, we’ll take over the system as we do with all the other systems after it leaves the property.”

The town “certainly has capacity” at its wastewater treatment plant to take the extra flow, according to Santos. “If we’re solving failed systems and environmental issues,” he said, “we’re very much supportive.”

Both Curtis and Santos encouraged other associations to think about hooking up. “If there’s a sewer line nearby, it sure makes a lot of sense to tie in,” the DPW director said, and Curtis observed, “If they can do it, it’s far, far better than the alternative both in terms of the long-range and in terms of cost and maintenance.”

Getting to yes is easier in a condo association, Curtis noted. “The trustees can act independently,” he said. “They do not need a vote on this kind of thing. If you want to install a luxury item, you need a vote, but to get rid of s---, you don’t.”

Curtis despairs of getting leaders of towns to push for wastewater infrastructure.

“We’re seeing it in national government and everything else,” he said. “The g—d----- politicians want to get elected and they’re not willing to bite the bullet and do what’s necessary.”